Musical clock



(No Model.)

- J. SPRANGERS.

MUSIGAL CLOCK.

Patented Aug. 13, 1889.

I l'm' B n Tm UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN SPRANGERS, OF KAUKAUNA, XVISCONSIN.

MUSICAL CLOCK.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 408,903, dated August13, 1889.

Application filed February 19, 1889. Serial No. 300,434. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN SPRANGERS, of Kaukauna,in the county ofOutaganiie, and in the State of \Visconsin, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Musical Clocks; and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to musical clocks; and it consists in certainpeculiarities of construction and combination of parts, to behereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings andsubsequently claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 represents a portion of the frame for aclock-train, a minutepost provided with a cam that forms part of myinvention, a bell-crank lever in position to be actuated by the cam, anda sectional view of a portion of a music-box attached to a clock-caseand arranged with relation to the bell-crank lever, the section beingtaken on line 1 1 of Fig. 2; Fig. 2, a plan view of a portion of themusic-box arranged with relation to the bell-crank lever andillustrating certain attachments constituting parts of my invention;Fig. 3, a section on line 3 3 of Fig. 2; Fig. at, a detail viewillustrating the gearwheel that is attached 'to the music-b0X cylinder,the stop-lever that engages said gearwheel, and a spring cutoff for saidstop-lever; and Fig.5 is a detail elevation of the parts shown in theprecedingfigure, certain of these parts being shown in section.

Referring by letter to the drawings, A represents one side of the framefor an ordinary clock-train, B a supplemental cross-brace attached tothe standards of said side of the frame, and O a disk pivoted to thecross-brace and provided with arms D D, arranged at right angles to eachother to form a bellcrank, these arms being screw-thrcaded to said diskto permit of longitudinal adjustment to regulate the leverage.

Fast on the minute-post E of the clock-train is a cam F, arranged toimpinge against the bent free end I) of the arm D of the bell-cranklever, and the other arm D of said bell-crank is arranged to lie justabove the spring-controlled stop-lever G of a music-box of ordinaryconstruction, attached by any suitable means to the casing ll of theclock to which my invention may be applied.

The lever-arm D is controlled by a spiral spring 0, that connects itwith thetrain-frame of said clock, and said lever-arm is provided withan angular finger (I, designed to come in the path of the music-box fanI at the instant the stop-lever G is actuated to bring its angular point6 out of engagement with the gearwheel J, that has a clutch-pinconnection f with the music-box cylinder K.

Attached to the frame of the musie-boX is a strip L, of spring metal,having the free end g thereof bent to lie adjacent to the gearwheel Jand normally rest upon the angular point e of the stop-lever G. Securedto the bent end of the spring-metal strip is a finger h, that straddlesthe gear-wheel J and comes in the path of the clutch-pin f, connectingthis gear-wheel and the cylinder K. The bent strip L forms a springcut-off designed to close the opening in the gear-wheel J, with whichthe stop-lever G engages at the instant the angular point e of saidlever is withdrawn, said strip remaining in position to accomplish thisresult long enough to permit said opening to pass the lever-point.

lVhile the above-described construction of the spring cut-off is the onepreferred, it is obvious that the strip L may be of material other thanspring metal controlled by a spring of spiral or other form.

Supposing the spring cut-oif to be in position between the point e ofthe stop-lever G and the adjacent side of the gear-wheel J, the latterand the cylinder K will be in the act of rotation, and at a certain timeduring this rotation the clutch-pin f will come against the finger g onsaid cutoff, and .thereby cause the latter to rise up and permit saidpoint of the stop-lever to assume position ready to e11- gage theopening in said gear-wheel when the latter has completed a revolution.The spring cut-off will now rest upon the point e of the stop-lever Gready to drop between it and the gear-wheel the instant the latter andsaid lever-point are again disengaged. The cam F on the minute-post E ofthe clock-train is so timed that at a certain fraction of an hour itwill tilt the bell-crank lever against the resistance of the spring 0 tocause the arm D.

thereof to press upon the stop-lever G of the music-box, and therebydisengage this latter lever and the gear-wheel J, thus permitting thespring cutoff L to interpose itself between the point e of saidstop-lever and said gearwheel, while at the same time the angular lingercl on said arm of the bell-crank lever comes in the path of the musicboxfan I to prevent rotation of the cylinder K, this operation beinginstantaneous, and taking place when the point marked i on said. cam hasreached the bent end i) of the arm I) of said bell-crank.

Should my invention be applied to a striking-clock, the parts would beso arranged that at the time the point marked j on the cam F reached thebent end I) of the bell-cranle lever arm D the striking mechanism wouldoperate, andwhen the point marked 7:. on said cam passed said bent endof the lever-arm the contraction of the spring 0 would cause a tilt ofthe bell crank lever reverse to that already described to bring theangular finger (l 011 its arm D out of the path of the fan I of themusic'box, thereby allowing the latter to play until the stop-lever Gand gear-wheel. J again engage.

As shown, the cam. F is a double one and so timed that the music-boxwill play every half hour; but it is obvious that said cam may be ofsuch contour that the interval between airs from said. music-box may belengthened or shortened, this being a mere matter of preference. I

By having the armsD D of the bell-crank lever longitudinally adjustablethe leverage can be accurately determined and the device readily appliedto clocks of varying dimen sions without the necessity of making aseparate size of bell crank for each size of clock.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a clock, the combination of the minute-post provided with a cam, abell-cranklever arranged to have one arm thereof in contact with thecam, a music-box arranged to have its stop-lever in the path of theotherarm of the bell-crank lever, and a spring cut-oil? secured to themusic-box to be auton'iatically interposed between the stop-lever andadjacent gear-wheel. at a predetermined instant for a certain intervalof time, substantially as set forth.

2. In a clock, the con'lbinaiion of the min nte-post provided with acam, another arm of the bell-crank lever arranged to have one armthereof in contact with the cam, a music-box arranged to have its stoplever in the path of the bell-crank lever, a spring cut-oiif secured tothe music-box to be automatically interposed between the stoplever andadjacent gear-wheel at a predetermined time, and a (inger secured to theent-oit to come in the path of the clutch-pin uniting said gear-wheeland music-box cylinder, substantially as set forth.

3. In a clock, the combination ot the minute-post provided with a cam,abell-crank lever having longitudinally-adjustable arms and arranged tobe actuated by the cam, and a music-box arranged to be set in motion bythe joint action of said cam and bell-crank lever at predeterminedintervals, substantially as set forth.

4.. In a clock, the combination oi. the minute-post provided with a cam,abell-cranklw ver actuated by the cam. and having one of its armsarranged to actuate the stop-lever of a suitably-positioned n'rnsicbox,and a linger secured to said arm of the bell-crank lever to come in thepath of the music-box fan for a predetermined interval. of time, substantially as set forth.

5. In a clock, the combination oi? the minute-post provided with a cam,abcll-crank lever fulcrumed to a bearing on thetrain-frame and arrangedto be actuated by the cam, a music-box positioned to have its stop-leveractuated by the bellc1.'ank lover, a linger on said lever arranged tocome in the path of the music-box fan when the stop-lever is aetlr ated,and a s n'ing cut-oil? arranged on said music'box to interpose itselfbetween said stop-lever and the adjacent gearwheel at the same instantthat said linger comes into position with relation to said fan,substantially as set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand, atKaukauna, in the county of Outagamie and State of Wisconsin, in thepresence of two wit nesses.

JOHN SIRANHIC'RS.

Witnesses:

Mrcimnn Sol-mm nun, PETER SUIEINIGIJ'JEH.

